Steven is 9 years old. He is small for his age with dark hair and an active little body. Steven loves Sponge Bob, Angry Birds, and anything that allows him to get on the floor and play with toys (set up in a carefully organized way).
During play sessions, I began to notice that after all the toys were placed in their proper spots, Steven would become visually overstimulated (every inch of floorspace spoken for by a small toy). When overstimulated, Steven would begin throwing the toys all over the room while yelling loudly and physically jerking his body. After two to three weeks of seeing this pattern (2-3 times), I decided to communicate my expectations for play with Steven visually (previously just verbally). I also decided to simplify my toy collection when Steven was present. I cartooned the event both for a visual reference for Steven and also to see if he was in fact comprehending the expectation (Steven is largely non-verbal but can write and read).
Following another instance of toy-throwing, I collected all the toys and placed them in a black bag. I then placed the bag out of reach and went up to my whiteboard to cartoon what happened in a sequential (step-by-step way) visual.

– Disregard the drawings located on either side of the squares. They are unrelated and came after the cartoon intervention. Follow the line.

The initial Cartoon, which displayed what occurred and the obvious consequence was left without words. Upon reviewing the cartoon with Steven, he picked up a marker and began to fill in dialogue. In the first cartoon square, Steven wrote “Good Job”- the picture of he and therapist playing nicely with the toys. In the second square, Steven wrote “Angry” in the thought bubble above his head (also drawing many toys being thrown). Therapist filled in the other wording like “No throwing”. Steven then requested to take the cartoon home. In the next weeks session, we had the cartoon out to be viewed as a reminder of expected behavior. He has not thrown toys since.

I am continually reminded of the importance of taking the next (visual) step in processing information. This cartoon gave Steven a chance to show me and more importantly his mother, that he understood what was expected of him. He communicated in a real way. When he picked up that marker and began filling in appropriate dialogue, we were speechless. I hope this technique for setting expectations continues to be effective for this boy. If so, it will significantly help his mother in a very functional way.